Saving money on your electricity bill is just one of the benefits of energy efficiency in your home. In addition to this, using less energy can also translate to a less negative influence on your environment, which will improve the Earth as a whole.
The good news is there are a few relatively simple practices you can do in order to increase the energy efficiency in your home, from unplugging your appliances to simply turning off your lights when you leave a room.
Control the Temperature
One of the first ways you can bring energy efficiency into your home is to control the temperature both when you are there and when you are out of the house. Programmable thermostats will give you the ability to set a schedule for every day of the week that will dictate the heating and/or cooling of your home. For instance, if you left for work at 7:30 am, you could have the thermostat set to drop its temperature in the winter or turn off the air conditioning in the summer. Then, you could have it increase the heating or turn the air conditioning back on (depending on the season) when you returned home from work. This way your environment is still comfortable while you are at home, but you are not wasting energy while you are away.
Unplug Electronics and Appliances
Even if you are not using your electronics or appliances, they are still using energy, often referred to as phantom power. Thus, they are still increasing your monthly bill as well as the impact on the environment. Thus, try to unplug everything you can when they are not going to be in use. The only exceptions to this would be appliances like your fridge and freezer since they help keep food fresh and edible.
Pick Appliances
Not all appliances are equal, particularly when it comes to energy efficiency. When purchasing new appliances, look for ones with energy-efficient certification or other proof that they use less energy than your old ones. For example, a key for laundry machines is to look for mentions of “high efficiency.”
Choose Good Lightbulbs
Similar to appliances, certain lightbulbs use less energy than others. There is no way around using lights in your home, so you cannot eliminate this energy completely, but you can minimize the amount you use. Take a look at the options in your local hardware store and choose the most energy efficient.
Watch Energy Usage
Even if you choose the most energy-efficient appliances in the world, you are still not going to be very energy efficient if you do not watch the way you use electricity in your home. Do you leave lights on when you are not in a room? That will use a lot of energy over time. Do you take really long showers? That will also use a lot of energy. Consider your regular routine and look for ways you can avoid using electricity, or at least minimize it. Shut off the light when you leave a room, take faster showers, et cetera.